Peste des petits ruminants monitoring in Kazakhstan and Central Asia: Isolation of the agent and its biological and genetic characterization
Project Status: 3 Approved without Funding
Duration in months: 36 months
Objective
The Project aim. Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) monitoring in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, isolation of the disease agent and its biological and genetic characterization. Current status. The significant changes in livestock husbandry caused by structural shifts in rural economics and resulted in production of 80% of farm produce by private households made actual the problem of eradication of infectious diseases. By present day the situation with critically dangerous infections of humans and animals has turned to be a very actual problem for many countries of the globe, including our republic. Outbreaks of these infections cause great economic losses to animal husbandry of the country. The critically dangerous infectious viral diseases such as PPR are of extreme threat. It is highly contagious, affects small cattle and some species of wild animals expanding the area of the infectious focus within short periods of time.
According to FAO and World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) peste des petits ruminants is one of five most dangerous diseases of animals in the Asian region. It is a viral disease characterized by clinical signs and pathologies resulting in hemorrhagic enteritis, pulmonary insufficiency, and damage of lymphoid system, collaps, swift dehydration and death. PPR is able to cause great losses because of 10-100% mortality and 50-100% morbidity. Currently the disease is widely spread and is registered in Tunis, Algeria, Egypt, Angola, Congo, Kenya, Mali, Uganda, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China.
Currently in non-PPR-free areas homologous virus vaccines based on the attenuated strains of the agent are widely used for specific prophylaxis of the disease. However some foreign scientists have shown in their studies existence of four genotype sublines of PPR virus that are different in their antigenic characteristics. Therefore the vaccine based on African sublines of PPR virus not always protects animals against Asian genotype of the virus. Taking this into consideration it is necessary to carry out epizootological monitoring and in case of isolation of PPR viruses to identify them in details for their possible further use in development of domestic vaccines against the infection.
At present PPR is not recorded in European countries including Byelorussia and Russia. Still owing to wide economic, cultural and other relations with non-PPR-free countries there is a justifiable threat of introducing the disease onto the territory of the countries that are free of it.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) mobilize the world community within the scope of the new global initiative on PPR eradication by year 2030. The final aim of FAO is to support PPR eradication and stable improvement of goat and sheep breeding systems towards stabilizing food safety and tolerance of sources of subsistence means for rural population to external shocks. The project’ influence on progress in this area. The successful implementation of the project will allow identifying veterinary and sanitary status of the territory, providing veterinary well-being of animal husbandry, control of epizootic situation in the region and detection of agents causing infectious diseases. In case the project is not realized the threat of the new PPR foci emergence on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan increases. The participants’ expertise. The RIBSP staff members taking part in the project implementation have broad experience of work in the area of biotechnology, virology, molecular biology, particularly in performance of epizootological monitoring of infectious diseases, virus isolation, biological and genetic characterization of agents causing different infectious diseases. The institute where the project work will be carried out possesses skilled personnel, modern buildings and experimental potential for up-to-date research. The staff of the institute carries out complex studies of agents causing foot-and-mouth disease, sheep pox, contagious ecthyma of sheep and goats, rabies, epizootic lymphangitis in horses, trichophytosis of cattle and camels, Aujeszky's and Newcastle diseases, hog cholera, infectious hepatitis, parvovirus enteritis and canine distemper, infectious laryngotracheitis, Gumboro disease. Recently the technique of generating vector strains for production of recombinant vaccines against influenza (H5N1, H1N1), brucellocis and tuberculosis was mastered. Scope of activities. The following activities will be implemented under the Project:
u Epizootological monitoring of peste des petits ruminants on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Central Asia and adjacent countries;
u Isolation of PPR viruses and their identification;
u Biological characterization of the PPR viruses;
u Molecular and genetic analysis of topical PPR virus strains.
Technical approach and methodology. Methods of virological and serological studies, methods of epizootological analysis of qualitative and quantitative parameters of epizootic process, as well as methods for statistical processing of epizootological monitoring data will be used in the Project work.
